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Investigation Opened in WikiLeaks Hacking Files; House Intelligence Committee to Investigate Trump Wiretapping Claims; Mysterious Video Surfaces in Kim Jong-Nam Murder; White House Press Briefing. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 8, 2017 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[13:30:00]REP. JACKIE SPEIER, (D), CALIFORNIA: That was their promise. And we have had them into the committee to talk about what efforts they have made to close the leaks. And they have done many things, but clearly, not enough. And, you know, there are many institutions in this country that have figured it out. Financial institutions being one of them. So I think there's going to have to be some firm conversations with the CIA about what it has to do in order to get its House in order.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: As a result of this leak, there's a lot of Americans concerned about their security, their personal privacy. I want your thoughts on what the FBI director, James Comey, said today about privacy, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: Even our communications with our spouses, with our clergy member, with our attorneys are not absolutely private in America. In appropriate circumstances, a judge can compel any one of us to testify in court about those very private communications. There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America. There is no place in America outside of judicial reach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What's your reaction, Congresswoman?

SPEIER: What he's saying is that if you can get a warrant, if you can show probable cause, you can, in fact, invade someone's privacy. But the privacy that we each have has individuals is not subject to scrutiny without having some probable cause that there's a crime that's been committed. There's certainly the defense of not being required to testify against your spouse, among other protections that we have in our laws.

BLITZER: Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said your committee, the Intelligence Committee, will now investigate President Trump's claims that President Obama illegally wiretapped Trump Tower in New York City last year. Listen to Adam Schiff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ADAM SCHIFF, (D), CALIFORNIA: The president has asked our committee to investigate this, and I would say, Mr. President, we accept.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He was referring to President Trump. What do you expect to find?

SPEIER: Well, first of all, you know, that gives credibility to what is an outrageous statement by the president. We should be able to make that clear within a day. There is no investigation that should take more than 24 hours to figure out whether or not that took place.

Frankly, the president would have to go to the Department of Justice, and the Department of Justice would have to go to a court, seeking a warrant and establishing probable cause. So, again, this is so outside the realm of possibility.

But to give it credibility, by saying we're going to investigate it, frankly, I think is a mistake. But if we're going to investigate it, we should be able to do it in 24 hours and get back to the American people.

BLITZER: Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat, they sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking any warrant applications or court orders related to wiretapping of Trump campaign officials or Trump Tower or anything involving Donald Trump should be made available to the committee. Do you think the Intelligence Committee should do the same thing on the House side?

SPEIER: Yes, we should have access to all of that information as part of our investigation into whether or not there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian oligarchs or Russian persons of interest.

BLITZER: Congresswoman Jackie Speier, of California, thanks very much for joining us.

SPEIER: My pleasure. Thank you.

BLITZER: China today warned that the U.S. and North Korea are on a course for a head-on collision. China's foreign minister called on the U.S. to halt a deployment of a missile defense system to South Korea. He called on North Korea to suspend its nuclear weapons program. The United Nations have condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile test.

Ambassador Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., says the U.S. is working on a strategy to deal with North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: We saw we had a launch in February. We saw the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam after that with chemical weapons, which Malaysia has reported. And now a multiple ballistic missile launch. This is someone who is trying to get attention. We are re-evaluating how we are going to handle North Korea going forward. And we are making those decisions now and we will act accordingly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're also following new developments in the murder of North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un's half-brother, Kim Jong-Nam.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, is joining us from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with details.

What's the latest, Ivan? What have you learned?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you know, the mystery of this airport assassination just gets stranger and stranger. Because about a month afterwards, now this mysterious video has popped up online, which appears to show a surviving son of the victim. Take a listen to an excerpt from this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:35:12] KIM HAN SOL, SON OF KIM JONG-NAM: My name is Kim Han Sol, from North Korea, part of the Kim family. Here is my passport. My father has been killed a few days ago. I'm currently with my mother and my sister and we're very grateful to -- and we hope this gets better soon. Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Wolf, you see that video is heavily censored, but South Korean intelligence has confirmed to CNN they do believe this is, in fact, Kim Han Sol. He's around 22 years old, mostly educated overseas, not in North Korea.

What's mysterious about this is the group that's published it, no Korea watcher has really heard of them before. They're called the Chiolima (ph) Civil Defense. And in their statement, they thank the governments of the U.S., the Netherlands, China and an unidentified fourth country for helping spirit Kim Han Sol and his relatives to safety. We reached out to the governments, they haven't commented on this.

But it does appear to be, again, a surviving son of the man who was murdered, apparently, with a chemical weapon, VX nerve agent, here at the main airport in Kuala Lumpur last month -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Ivan, Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of Kim Jong-Un, and his family, I take it, in recent years, once they left North Korea, they lived mostly in China, is that right?

WATSON: That's right. In China. This son has given interviews before to European television organizations. He mostly studied in Europe at high schools and universities across Europe. For the first time, it's important, the Malaysian government has

openly accused North Korea of carrying out the assassination last month with what it describes as a chemical weapon of mass destruction. North Korea has been denying it. But it's very important that the relations have practically disintegrated between these two countries. The Malaysians expelled the North Korean ambassador on Monday.

BLITZER: All right.

WATSON: North Korea has since declared that all of Malaysia's diplomats in Pyongyang are not allowed to leave the country. Malaysia has responded tit-for-tat, not allowing any North Koreans to leave here. It's a real rupture in relations -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Ivan Watson, thank you very much.

Let's go right to Sean Spicer at the White House.

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: -- honor and celebrate women and how their vital contributions have and continue to be to our society, our economy, our family, and our businesses.

The President tweeted this morning about the surge in hiring in the two months that he's been in office. LinkedIn's workforce report states that January and February were the strongest consecutive months for hiring in over a year and a half. A new report from ADP (ph) and Moody's showed strong private job growth that is far exceeding market expectations. And just this morning, Samsung confirmed that it's planning a quote, major investment in U.S. production facilities, correctly citing the President's election as an influence in their decision. The initial investment is expected to reach around $300 million.

We keep seeing that the wave of optimism and growth in the wake of the President's pledges to help American businesses continues to produce real results for people throughout our nation.

Yesterday, I forgot to -- there are a couple things that I didn't get to yesterday, so let me mention a couple of those. Yesterday afternoon, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr. David Shulkin, and senior White House staff met with several veteran service organizations, including what's commonly referred to as the big six, to discuss the President's commitment to helping our veterans and modernizing our VA.

The meeting represented another step in fulfilling the President's promise to the men and women who have served our nation so honorably. I know the President looks forward to personally following up on that meeting with the VSOs.

Also last night, the President named several individuals whom he intends to nominate or appoint to key administration posts. Courtney Simmons Elwood, General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency; Noel Francisco, Solicitor General at the Department of Justice; Jeffrey Rosen, Deputy Secretary of Transportation; John J. Sullivan, General Counsel at the Department of Defense; Ajit Pai, member of the Federal Communications Commission; and Tony Sayegh Jr., the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Treasury. Expect further announcements as the week goes on.

Now onto the event of the day. This morning after receiving his daily intelligence briefing, the president met with Laurene Powell Jobs, the found and president of Emerson Collective, an organization dedicated to removing the barriers that unfortunately prevent some in the world from achieving their full potential.

[13:40:13] They discussed education and immigration policy, which are two of the areas that Emmerson Collective focuses on.

Then, the president held a strategic affairs launch, focused on infrastructure with leaders in the private sector. Infrastructure used to be a point of American pride. But now, an overbearing, ineffective regular system can keep projects in limbo for years.

The president has already started removing the regulatory roadblocks that've been killing projects before they've even begun through his executive actions, streamlining the permitting process and calling for each agency throughout the government to identify regulations that cause undue burden.

As the president has said many times, strong public private partnerships will also be key to revitalizing our country's ruined roads, crumbling bridges and outdated airports. The government has wasted too much of the taxpayers' money on inefficient and misguided projects.

By looking at infrastructure from business person's perspective, as the president and these executives do, we can restore respect for the taxpayer dollar and make the best investment. The president was particularly pleased to be holding this meeting, now that Secretary for Transportation Chao, EPA administrator Pruitt, and Energy Secretary Perry are all confirmed and getting to work.

In attendance at the launch, as I mentioned, were Secretary Chao, Secretary Perry, Administration Pruitt, and then Richard LeFrak, the CEO of LeFrak, Steve Roth, the CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, Bill Ford, the CEO of General Atlantic, Lynn Scarlett, the managing director of the Nature Conservancy, Tyler DuVall, the partner of McKinsey, and Elon Musk of SpaceX.

Later this afternoon, the president will meet with Congressman Elijah Cummings to discuss rising prescription drugs prices. I know the president's looking forward to continuing the dialogue that they started a few weeks ago on the phone.

At 4 o'clock, the president will meet with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Senator Murkowski, and Senator Sullivan of Alaska. They're expected to discuss the priorities of the Department of Interior, especially as -- as it pertains to the government-owned lands in Alaska.

This evening, the president will meet with conservative leaders about healthcare. We'll have more details and participants on that meeting a little bit later this afternoon.

The president and the vice president continue to reiterate their support for the House bill on Obamacare, repeal and replace, and look forward to working with Congress to institute a new healthcare system.

Tonight, the president will have dinner with Senator and Mrs. Cruz. And finally, a couple of additional administration announcements.

Today, the president and the first lady announced the initial details for the 139th White House Easter Egg Roll taking place on Monday, April 17. They are honored to continue the traditions of the past, while creating new ones that will play a lasting role in the fabric of our nation's history.

Tickets to the Easter egg roll are free to the public and will be allotted through an online lottery. Further details on the lottery and the information on that day will be released later this month. Keep an eye on WhiteHouse.gov for updates on that.

I'm also pleased to announce -- a little bit proud -- that the Taoiseach Kenny of Ireland will be visiting the White House for the traditional St. Patrick's Day visit on March 16th. We'll have further details on that visit as well as the foreign-leader visits later this week.

With that, some questions. David Smith of the Guardian?

QUESTION: Hi, Sean. Can I ask about the president's state visit to the U.K. and their -- their timing for that, and what was your reaction to some members of Parliament in Britain saying the president is not welcome, that (ph) actually used words like racist and -- and sexist. Has that led him to reconsider?

SPICER: The president, as you know, accepted Her Majesty's invitation when the prime minister was here. He looks forward to going over and -- and visiting the United Kingdom.

As we have details to share with you further, we will. But there's nothing further at this time.

Kaitlyn (ph)?

QUESTION: Does the White House have a reaction to the Iranian vessel coming within 150 yards of a Navy ship over the weekend? Aren't they on notice? And will you offer anything beyond a verbal reaction?

And then I have a follow-up question.

SPICER: OK. The USNS ship that was in close proximity is obviously something that the president has been made aware of. The president's been very clear that this provocative action is something that won't be tolerated. With that, I would refer you to the Department of Defense who is -- who's monitoring that situation and -- and will talk about the appropriate actions they may take.

And your next one? QUESTION: And then secondly, does he have any plans to revamp the H1B visa program by the April 1 deadline?

SPICER: I think we've talked before about immigration as a whole. I think there is the legal part of immigration and then the illegal part of immigration. The president's actions that he's taken in taken in terms of his executive order and other revamping of immigration policy have focused on our border security, keeping our country safe, our people safe.

[13:45:09] And then obviously where there's H1-B Visas or the other one, spousal visas, other area is a student visas -- I think there is a natural desire to have a full look, a comprehensive look at that. He discussed the Race (ph) Act yesterday with Senators Purdue and Cotton. We'll have more on that coming forward but I think as we all mentioned, he was very supportive of their efforts, with respect to how we view legal immigration.

He mentioned in his Joint Address that we're only one of a handful of countries that doesn't use a merit-based system of immigration and that is something that we need to look at in its totality.

Hunter (ph)?

QUESTION: I have two quick questions. Are you aware of any women who work at the White House who are participating in the strikes today? And also more generally, what is the Administration's reaction to this protest? Do you think it's an effective way -- skipping work is an effective way for women to demonstrate their power and significance?

SPICER: On the first part, I am not aware of any that are not here. I think everyone that I'm aware of has shown up and is working really hard to advance the President's agenda. They're committed to moving this country forward, those of us who will join the President throughout government I think. But obviously as the President stated today, we want to recognize the contributions that women make to our businesses, to our families, to our economy, to our society.

It's a free country. People have the right to express themselves. But I think we should on a daily basis, not just one day a year but 365 days a year, appreciate the contributions that women make in all of those categories. So, it shouldn't be a daily thing. I mean, hopefully we can help fix that a little bit more.

John (ph)?

QUESTION: First of all Sean, there seems to be this ground swell of conservative opposition to the health care bill that was offered up by leadership in the House of Representatives. You mention the President is going to be meeting this evening with conservatives. What is his message to those individuals? Are they members of the Freedom caucus? Will Senator Rand Paul be there? Can you give a sense about what the President intends to do to turnaround that opposition that was quite apparent yesterday.

SPICER: A few things on that. One, as I mentioned, we'll have a list of participants later. Two, I think there has been a lot of -- from business and conservative groups have been very supportive of this, whether it's Americans for Tax Reform, Americans Tax Payer Union, the Medical Device Manufacturing Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, (AlbaMed) (ph), One Nation Health, Consumer Health Products Association, the Association of AMAC, the National Association of Wholesale Distributors, the American Legislative Exchange Council and others.

There's been tremendous support for this. We've had people throughout Washington D.C. going to different associations and groups throughout the day, the last couple of days, talking to them about the benefits of this. We're going to continue to do outreach.

Amit (ph), as you know yesterday with the House Whip team expressing his un-waving support for the bill and the process that he's about to encounter. He'll work with these individuals today and we're going to have a full court press.

Our team is, throughout the Administration on local radio and local television to get that message right to the American people to talk about both the things that I talked about yesterday. Why we have a crisis right now in healthcare and why Obamacare is failing.

But then secondly, why the solution that the President has worked on with the House is the right one to bring down costs and to re- institute choice. So, that message is going to continue to get delivered both today and for the next several weeks, until it passes the House and the Senate and it comes back to his desk.

But again, one of the important messages that I think those are on the conservative side need to understand is right now there's an uneven playing field. If you get your insurance through Medicaid, Medicare, through the government or an employer-based healthcare, you are untaxed, your employer is untaxed.

It is those self-employed individuals, those small businesses that are paying the penalty for this. And that's where I think we have to remember is that we talk so often on the conservative side and on the republican side about the importance of entrepreneurship, the importance of small businesses to our economy. And yet, they're the ones who suffer right now with an inequity in the tax system.

I think that by leveling that playing field and by giving them more options and driving down costs, we're actually doing a very conservative thing here. By removing the mandate of a government- mandated, you must buy this program or you will pay a penalty and eliminating choice. We are enacting, I think a very strong conservative values in healthcare that gives all Americans more choice at a lower cost. So, I think that should be a very positive message.

John (ph)?

[13:50:03]

QUESTION: Yes, thank you. As a brand-new federal employee, I'm sure you aware... SPICER: I'm current actively.

QUESTION: Welcome back. Well, at the moment.

SPICER: Thank you. QUESTION: I'm sure you and your family are aware that the Office of Personnel Management offers a very comprehensive health care program called the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program.

SPICER: Yes.

QUESTION: You -- anyone in this building, on the Hill, their staff, their family, their friends -- not their friends, their family. Well maybe, who knows? Very generous. So it's state-of-the-art.

The individuals involved in the health care situation right now, the debate, no matter how it plays out, can they really have the kind of sympathy and empathy for individuals who may not benefit nearly as much when they're negotiating this -- all these plans, Sean?

SPICER: In what respect?

QUESTION: Well, I mean they're -- you're fine. You're covered.

SPICER: Sure. But it's unfortunate.

First of all, I'm not fine, because I think because of Obamacare premiums on everybody have gone up. No. If you -- regardless of what you pay, federal employees make a contribution to their health care plan as well. And I think that all premiums have increased over the last -- whether you're in an employer-based system or not.

So one of the big issues with Obamacare was in order to fix a problem that faced you know 15 to 20 million people, is that the entire system got shattered. And prices on everybody got ratcheted up. People on Medicaid suddenly lost their ability.

So the issue was that in an attempt to solve a problem that affected a very specified and defined group of people, we affected the entire health care market. That -- so whether or not you get it from an employee or not, an employer or not. But to your question, that's part of the issue.

Hold on. Hold on. Here's the issue. You're right. You're absolutely right.

Right now if you're a federal employee in a lot of cases in state (ph), you get to open a book and you get to look at what plan matters to you. What plan is best for you or your family. What -- how much do you want to pay? How much coverage do you want to have? What's the copay you're willing to risk (ph)? What services or benefits do you want as part of your plan? Absolutely.

But the issue is so many Americans, they don't have that choice. For a third of everyone in -- for a third of the counties in this country, they've got one choice, one. And in a lot of states they've got you know none, or the exchanges are becoming fewer and fewer. The number of doctors and plans that take Medicaid fewer and fewer.

So to your point, I think actually we're in a unique place because we get to understand what the average American should get. It shouldn't be limited to a specified number of people.

QUESTION: I appreciate your argument. Very well taken.

SPICER: Thank you.

QUESTION: However, I'm going to compare a GS-5 or a GS-9 to a senator or a secretary of one of the agencies. SPICER: OK.

QUESTION: I mean the safety net on those individuals gives them a certain cushion. They're negotiating, but do they really have that kind of compassion or that kind of empathy for the people who in fact may be thrown off the health care?

SPICER: I mean I think that just because somebody has health care doesn't mean that they can't empathize with somebody who doesn't. You know, we all have family and friends that are suffering. I mean that's like saying because I have a job I can't be empathetic to somebody who doesn't have a job.

I mean we all have family and friends. It's the same thing. When we watch a friend or a family member suffer through a terminal disease, because we haven't suffered through it doesn't mean that we can't have compassion toward that person or be concerned on how much that bill is costing them.

I mean that's actually, in some ways, you know, depending on you know the relationship we have with that person, you can even feel worse. You can feel guilty about how much you have and how you're not able to help that person. I think in many cases that's what drives us is to know there're options available to some Americans and not others.

QUESTION: I appreciate your response.

SPICER: Thank you.

QUESTION: Sean?

SPICER: John.

QUESTION: Sean, we confirmed that there is a criminal investigation into this alleged theft of cyber tools from the CIA by WikiLeaks. What can the White House tell us about the situation?

Particularly the fact that it seems like there's another leak for the intelligence community that's on the scale of Edward Snowden? And can you share the American people that none of these tools have ever been used against them?

SPICER: Well, there's a couple things in that.

Number one, for obvious reasons, it is our policy as a government not to confirm the authenticity of any kind of disclosure or hack. That would be highly inappropriate for us. But you know all of these occurred under the last administration. That is important. All of these alleged issues.

And I think it's interesting to have it asked this way about the damage that could've occurred or what tools could've be used in light of what's been going on recently. I mean we've had you know your own network's correspondent, James Rosen, had his phones -- multiple phone tapped. What is -- was that appropriate back then?

I think there's a lot of concern out there about alleged leaks. I mean there is a -- there's two steps to this. And I think what you saw over the last week in terms of -- this should be a major concern to people in terms of the leaks that are coming out, and the desire to get to the bottom of them.

[13:55:04] Whether or not -- not specifically with respect to the disclosure that you're referring to.

But I think the idea that we are having these ongoing disclosures of national security and classified information should be something that everybody is outraged in this country.

This is the kind of disclosure that undermines our country, our security, and our well being. And you've seen over the last two years, you know, depending on the leak, it depends on the outrage. It's interesting how whenever the -- whether the leak occurred under the last administration, you had member after member talking about disclosures that occurred during the last administration, whether it was members of Congress -- you know, Elijah Cummings expressed concern during the last thing -- last administration in terms of the Americans that were -- you know, when it deal with Hillary Clinton, there was complete outrage about the leaks that occurred; members calling for investigations to the leaks.

It's interesting how there's sort of a double standard with when the leaks occur, how much outrage there is.

And so I do think it's important, while I don't want to get into confirming or denying this particular thing, I think it is interesting that -- how different subjects are approached. This one everyone is immediately rushing to and there should be a lot more coverage of this. This alleged leak should concern every single American in terms of the impact it has on our national security.

QUESTION: Can I ask something unrelated?

SPICER: Of course you can.

QUESTION: Robin Shahini has been imprisoned in Iran since last October for collaborating with a hostile government, that government being the United States of America. He's on a hunger strike. Apparently, his health is suffering. Is the president aware of Mr. Shahini's plight and that of three other Americans who are being held in Iran? And what, if anything, might the president be doing about it?

SPICER: Yes. So, obviously, we're aware of the situation. In that particular case, I would refer you to the State Department.

QUESTION: I'd like to go back to an earlier question. What is the president personally going to be doing in order to sell this healthcare bill? And what's he going to do to convince (inaudible) lawmakers (inaudible) who don't (inaudible)?

SPICER: Well, I mean, we're on day two. As I mentioned, we've been out in local talk radio and local markets. The president yesterday met with the House deputy whips. Today, he's having a series of additional meetings with conservative groups, with others. He's already talked to insurance agents (ph).

I mean, we've talked about the lead-up to this with the insurance executives, with companies, with various members of the House and the Senate from both parties. He met with governors, attorneys general. I think there's a group of lieutenant governors coming in.

We're going to be aggressively going after the -- talking about the solution that we have for healthcare, both the need to repeal the current Obamacare system, and the need to replace it with something that gives patients the choices and the costs that they need.

As I mentioned yesterday, and I can't overstate this, there's a difference between having a card and having care. Being told you have coverage and not being able to use it is no good. And that's the thing that I think is really important. It's -- when we get asked the question so often: How many people are going to be covered? It's -- that's not the question that should be asked.

How many people are going to get the care they need? Having coverage with a high deductible and, in some cases, or not having a plan that allows you to get the coverage you need, or afford it, isn't real coverage. It's a card. And I think that's the big difference in the approach that we're taking here, is how do we get people the affordable care they need; that there's more choice; that more doctors are coming into the system instead of leaving.

And that is a big, big difference in the approach that's happening now.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (inaudible) on the road to try to sell it?

SPICER: I think you will see a lot of travel and a lot of activity by the president and all of the administration. And it's not just going to be the president. It's going to be, you know, the secretary, the directors, key administration staff. The vice president's been actively engaged in meeting on the Hill, on talk radio, on local radio, on local television.

You've seen a flurry of meetings with outside interests, with op/eds explaining the problem and engaging groups and associations and -- that have an interest in this, and industry leaders.

This is going to be a very, very aggressive, comprehensive approach to making sure that every American understands that there is a major problem and that we are here to fix it.

Cecelia? (ph)

QUESTION: (inaudible) I want to go back to that -- two parts. Is the president outraged by this?

SPICER: Well, I mean, again, I don't want to -- the allegations -- he has been very clear about the concern that he has for leaks. This is...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Well, again, Cecelia (ph), if I -- I think he is very concerned about the allegations that are out there in terms of what may or may not happen. It is -- it is an allegation. It is something that we are not going to confirm at this time. But as you can imagine from the president's previous comments, he is extremely concerned about this -- about these allegations, about this -- about the potential that something, if this were true, would have on our national security.

[14:00:13]

And make no mistake about it.